CH 196

After repelling Heinrich’s troops, we finally arrived at the border between Lancaster Kingdom and Keel Kingdom. On our way here, we parted ways with those thugs gang (apparently their leader was called Johnny and their gang was called ‘Johnny and 7 Humans and Devils or something) since they didn’t have the required social status to cross the border. As a thanks for helping us, I gave them 100 gold coins. They said they would return to Resta after the situation cooled down.

The gatekeeper to Keel Kingdom was dressed in a uniform that looked like it was a mixture of either chinese or japanese style. While we were crossing the border, I asked the gatekeeper about a good town for sightseeing nearby. Since I couldn’t even speak the Lancaster language well, of course I had to resort to speaking in gestures and writing.

“Phew…. We managed to get away…. Just as I thought, they won’t be able to continue chasing us after we crossed the border.”

After passing through the border, the exhaustion finally caught up to us. No matter how high Heinrich’s position as a noble, he still couldn’t use his personal army to chase us here. After all, having his personal troop entering another country’s territory was basically a declaration of war. Considering the risk and the potential benefit he would get from me, of course the benefit wouldn’t be worth the risk. 

In other words, we’re already safe now.

And then, after riding the wagon for half a day, we finally arrived at Howai, a hot spring town that the gatekeeper had proudly boasted to us about. This hot spring town was like the Kusatsu Onsen resort with a mixture of Chinese elements. By the time we arrived at the town, it was already dinner time. 

“This town looks like a nice place to relax at. Heinrich won’t be chasing after us anymore so let’s take it easy for a while here.”

I voiced my suggestion and both Yurina-san and Donny-san agreed to it. After securing two vacant rooms in an onsen hotel called Seagull Pavilion, we quickly went to the onsen. 

Of course the men and the women’s bathrooms were properly separated. There was even an open air bath with 100% of its water flowing freely from a hot spring source. The hot spring water itself was sulfuric. 

“Feels good…”

This experience felt really soothing. The open air bath itself was open for both genders and pets so I was able to enjoy the hot spring water together with Yurina-san and Ash. Although we used towels to cover our body, of course I just couldn’t let other men ogling on Yurina-san’s sexy body so we steered away from other people while soaking there. 

After getting out of the bath, we decided to have dinner in our room. Donny-san went to our room for dinner since our room was slightly bigger than his. The room itself was a tatami based room with a mixture of Chinese ornaments incorporated in its design. The hotel was giving a pretty relaxing vibe. Also, since this town was close to the sea, the restaurant in this hot spring was apparently specializing in seafood based cuisine. 

In any case, I ordered the most expensive food course in order to celebrate our escape from Heinrich’s grasp. Things like sashimi, soup, boiled stuff, grilled stuff, were served to us along with liquor that tasted like Chinese wine. The fish sauce that was served along with the sashimi had been properly balanced so the saltiness would match perfectly with the sashimi. The condiment that came along, which looked like a grated ginger root, also went well with the sashimi. 

To sum the whole experience in one sentence… It was the best thing ever.

“Hm? Is that thing glowing?”

As we were stuffing our mouths full with fish-based cuisine,I noticed that the magic device in the shape of a crystal ball that Donny-san brought with him glowed. This crystal ball was the thing that Donny-san had received from Juno.

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T/N: Kusatsu is an onsen resort in Japan. The place looks like this…